It was 0700 and the location was a pier in Cairns Australia as 30 of us were boarding a live-aboard boat to perform 9 scuba dives over the next 3 days and 2 nights. There were only 3 of us that had never performed an open water scuba dive before, and I was one of them. It would take 5 dives while completing our drills for us to obtain our PADI open water certification. \u00a0We were ready.<\/p>\n
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It took the boat about 3 hours to get out to the reef for our first dive. 27 of the others were seasoned divers, so as the newbies we felt privileged they\u2019d help us gear up and make jokes about our fumbling around prior to getting into the water.<\/p>\n
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Others may disagree with me and that is fine, but I have sky dived and to me, nothing felt closer to jumping out of an airplane as a paratrooper than scuba diving.\u00a0 You suit up, perform checks on your gear and your scuba buddy\u2019s gear, shuffle to the edge of the boat, give an OK to the dive master who checks your air is on (I always stuck my hand out and yelled \u201cALL OK JUMPMASTER!\u201d just to get into the moment a bit more), and jump off the boat into the water. I understand the two experiences are almost polar opposites, but what isn\u2019t is the comradery and the procedures prior to diving (or jumping out of an airplane).<\/p>\n
As soon as I hit the ocean waters of the Great Barrier Reef in full scuba gear I felt two things: A brief moment of anxiety, just as I felt in the pool during onshore training, and when we signaled to go down.\u00a0 This was a moment of bliss and freedom as you leave the world you know and enter a realm of tranquility beneath the ocean.\u00a0 It was so similar to exiting an aircraft as you leave the chaos and perform the 4-second count prior to your parachute opening. \u00a0Both are moments when you have a quick chat with the big guy upstairs and are alone in the world.\u00a0 There are few experiences in life that compare to these.\u00a0 I was instantly hooked on scuba diving.<\/p>\n
Our first five dives were work.\u00a0 They encompassed the same drills over and over that we performed in the pool.\u00a0 The objective was to review the same emergency procedures for a multitude of issues that you can face while underwater, and how to calmly overcome them.\u00a0 This was another similarity to being a paratrooper.\u00a0 The only big difference is there was less yelling for your mistakes, but the instructor did have a whiteboard to correct any errors you were making while on the dive.\u00a0 Another reason I knew my instructor was great was when she wrote my mistakes on her whiteboard for, I literally could hear her stern voice in my head just as clear and loud as if we were above water.<\/p>\n
Upon all three of us successfully meeting the criteria we were now PADI Certified Open Water Scuba Divers.\u00a0 Now it was time to begin having fun and enjoying the benefits of diving.\u00a0 We were on The Great Barrier Reef after all and the coral and wildlife we saw over the next 3 days was magical.\u00a0 We were literally in God\u2019s aquarium.\u00a0 Each of the dive sites we experienced had something unique to offer, from schools of colorful fish, to sea turtles, to even a couple nurse and reef sharks.\u00a0 If I wasn\u2019t hooked before on this new hobby, I surely was now.<\/p>\n
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The remainder of the days were passed with dives, delicious food, and wonderful new friends.\u00a0 The beauty of this live aboard boat were absolutely the people I was surrounded by.\u00a0 We each had different experience levels in diving, and were from countries all around the World, yet we all bonded over this one passion, scuba diving. Once the evening festivities died down instead of returning to the tight quarters below deck a few of us decided to sleep on the open upper deck of the vessel.\u00a0 This was the perfect way to wind down.\u00a0 We would tell a few jokes while staring at the Southern Cross as it slowly made its way across the sky until we fell asleep, and in the morning awaking to the sunrise hitting this spectacular part of the World and lighting up the Australian Flag as the sun rose. \u00a0A feeling of accomplishment washed across me each day and evening of this trip.\u00a0 It may have been the most rewarding time along my travels to this day, and for good reason. I had found a new way to add even further adventure to my travels.<\/p>\n
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